Fence

ABSTRACT

A fence comprises posts and panels. Each end of a panel includes a turn-back bend that leads to a securement mechanism for securing the panel to a post, whereby the securement mechanism (e.g., screws), is hidden from the front of the fence, thereby resulting in an aesthetically appealing fence. The panel may be made from ¼-inch steel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fences are important in many applications. Durability, safety, security, and aesthetics are important factors in fence design. Although sturdy metal fences may be durable and tough, them may suffer from poor or undesirable aesthetics, or may be insecure. What is needed is an improved design for a metal fence or a fence from a similarly sturdy material.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A fence may comprise posts and panels. A basic segment of a fence may comprise a panel secured at a first end to a first post and at a second end to a second post. The panel may have a front side and a back side.

Each end of the panel may have a turn-back bend that that turns the panel back behind the back side, where the panel terminates with a post adapter for securing the panel to the post. The post adapter may include holes for using one or more bolts or screws to secure that end of the panel to the corresponding post. In this manner, the securement hardware and/or mechanisms are not visible or accessible from the front side of the fence. The panel and posts may be made from ¼-inch steel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panels.

FIG. 2 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panels in a corner configuration.

FIG. 3 shows a top-down view of an exemplary post and secured panel in an end configuration.

FIG. 4 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence segment comprising two posts and three panels.

FIG. 5 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence segment comprising at least three posts and at least four panels.

FIG. 6 shows a top-down view of an exemplary fence in a square or rectangular configuration comprising at least four posts and at least eight panels.

FIG. 7 shows a front/outside view of an exemplary fence.

FIG. 8 shows a back/inside view of an exemplary fence.

FIG. 9a shows a top down view, including the base and holes in the base, of an exemplary post and secured panels.

FIG. 9b shows a top down view, including the base and bolts or screws through the holes in the base, of an exemplary post and secured panels.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of an exemplary fence post.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This Application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/969,551, titled “Improved Fence Designs and Systems,” and filed on Feb. 3, 2020, the inventor of which is Matthew Moore, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

A fence design and system is disclosed.

TABLE OF REFERENCE NUMBERS FROM DRAWINGS

The following table is for convenience only, and should not be construed to supersede any potentially inconsistent disclosure herein.

Reference Number Description 110a-n post 111 top of post 112a-n holes in post for bolts 115a-n post bases 117a-n holes in post base for securing to ground 120a-n panel(s) 121a-n first end of panel 122a-n second end of panel 123a-n hidden part of panel from back/inside view 124a-n hidden part of panel from back/inside view 125a-n holes in panel for bolts to secure panel to post 130a-n bolt(s) for securing panel to post 140a-n bolts for securing post base to ground 200 house 210 ground strip 220 length 230 length 300 corner post 320a panel 320b panel 400 end post 420 panel

As shown in FIGS. 1-10, a fence may comprise one or more panels 120 secured to one or more posts 110 a-n.

Post 110 a may be square or rectangular metal tubing, or may be tubing of another cross-sectional shape. In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1-10, post 110 a may be ¼ steel (e.g., Corten). Post 110 a may be made from a different material and the material may have a different thickness. Itis possible for a post to be solid instead of hollow, but using a solid-core post is generally undesirable because of the additional weight, cost of materials, and difficulty in moving, manipulating, and/or installing the post. As shown in FIGS. 1-10, post 110 a is 4-inch square steel tubing made from steel having a thickness of ¼ inch. As is standard with many fences, post 110 a may have a height of 6.0 feet. The height, cross section shape and size, material, and material thickness may be varied and/or adjusted within the scope of this disclosure.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7-10, post 110 a may include a base 115 for securing post to the ground, e.g., to a concrete strip 210 as shown in FIGS. 7-8. The base may be made out of many different materials, and may be monolithic (with the post itself), or may be a separate piece of hardware secured to the post. In one embodiment base 115 may be monolithic with post 110 a and may be therefore made from the same material as post 110 a, e.g., ¼″ steel.

Base 115 may be a 7-inch by 7-inch square. In one embodiment, post 110 a may be located toward the front of base 115, i.e., not centered. This may be desirable for aesthetics, e.g., to keep most of the visible portion of base 115 toward the back of the post and behind panel 120 a as shown if FIGS. 1-10. Base 115 may have many shapes and sizes. Many approaches and solutions for securing a post to the ground or to a material secured to the ground are known in the art.

Base 115 may include one or more holes 117 a-n for using bolts or screws (e.g., lag screws) 140 a-n to secure base 115 to the ground, e.g., to concrete strip 210. Many different sizes, hole patterns, hole shapes, and numbers of holes may be used. For example, as shown in FIGS. 9a and 9b , holes 117 a-d may be/2-inch diameter holes (or slightly larger to accommodate ½-inch diameter bolts or screws 140 a-d). The respective centers of holes 117 a-d may be approximately ¾ inch from the outside edges of base 115, 1 inch from the edge opposite the panel edge, and 1 inch from the panel edge. The locations and sizes of holes 117 a-d may vary. In one embodiment ½ inch concrete anchors, screws, or bolts may be used to secure base 110 to concrete strip 210.

FIG. 1 shows a top-down view of panels 120 a and 120 b secured to post 110 a using bolts 130 a-f. Because FIG. 1 is a direct top down view, bolts 130 c-f are obscured by bolts 130 a and 130 b.

As shown in FIGS. 1-9 b, the shape and bend of panels 120 a-n results in a no-hardware look from the outside of panels 120 a-n, while still allowing for reliably and easily securing panels 120 a-n to posts 110 a-n. In one embodiment, panel 120 a may be made from the same material as post 110 a, e.g., ¼-inch steel. Panel 120 a may be made from other materials having varying thicknesses and other properties. The important characteristic for panel 120 a is its amenability to bending or shaping so that it covers, as viewed from the outside of the panel side of post 110 a-n, the gap between panel 120 a and post 110 a that is secured with bolts or screws 125 a-n.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 1-9, panels 120 a-n may be ¼-inch steel sheet (e.g., Corten). Distance 220 may be 1.5 inches, and distance 230 may be 2.25 inches.

Panels may have varying lengths and heights. As shown in FIGS. 1-9, for 6.0-foot-high fence posts 110 a-n, panels 120 a-n may have height of 5 feet 8 inches. In one embodiment, the length of panels 120 a-n may be approximately 8.0 feet, which is often a standard for fence design and installation. The length of a panel 120 a may vary depending on design considerations, strength of posts 110 a-n, engineering considerations, usability for installation and other manipulation, safety issues, and any other consideration that may be known in the art.

In one embodiment, panel 120 a may be secured to post 110 a by three bolts or screws 125 a, 125 c, and 125 e. As shown in FIG. 10, post 110 a may include three holes 112 a-c for use in securing panel 120 a to post 110 a. Holes 112 a-c may be pre-tapped (i.e., pre-threaded) so that screws 130 a-c may be secured to holes 112 a-c. In one embodiment, holes 112 a-c in post 110 a may be circular and have a diameter of ⅜″ inch or slightly larger to accommodate ⅜″ screws or bolts 130 a-c. Holes 125 a-c in panel 110 a may correspond to holes 112 a-c in post 110 a to be compatible with holes 112 a-c.

Different numbers of screws/bolts 130 a-c may be used and may be spaced or located in many different ways that will be apparent to a person of skill in the art. In one embodiment, holes 112 a and 125 a may be located approximately 6 inches from the top of panel 120 a, holes 112 c and 125 c may be located approximately 6 inches from the bottom panel 120 a, and holes 112 b and 125 b may be located in the middle of and equidistant between holes 112 a/125 a and 112 c/125 c.

FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment for a corner post 300 secured to panels 320 a and 320 b. Although post 300 is shown as a square tube, it could be other shapes. For example, to accommodate a particular turn angle in a fence design, post 300 may have a shape that facilitates a specific angular offset (e.g., instead of a 90-degree angle) between panel 320 a and panel 320 b. Alternatively, a post could be a circular tube and panels may be shaped to have a curve that complements the shape of the circular tube, thereby allowing any angular offset between two panels as long as holes are appropriately placed in the post and/or another securement mechanism is used.

FIG. 3 shows how a panel 420 may be secured to an end post 400 that may terminate a run of fence next to, e.g., a house 200.

FIG. 4 shows a top-down view of a complete panel 120 b secured to posts 110 a and 110 b, as well as segments of panels 120 a and 120 c secured to posts 110 a and 110 b respectively, as described herein. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows a top-down view of four panels 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d secured to posts 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c as may occur in a straight run of fence. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 shows a top-down view of a square or rectangular fence configuration using at least panels 120 a-h and posts 110 a-d. Other posts, panels, and/or other features may be included in the breaks as shown in FIG. 6 according to the invention described herein. The ground and post bases are not shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 shows a front or outside view of a fence according to the disclosure herein. As shown in FIG. 7, none of the screws/bolts that secure panels 120 a-c to posts 110 a-d are visible from the front/outside view.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary back or inside view of a fence according to the disclosure herein. As shown in FIG. 8, bolts/screws 130 a-f for securing panel 120 a to posts 110 a and 110 b are visible from the back/inside view.

FIGS. 9a and 9b each show a top-down view of a post 110 a and panels 120 a and 120, similar to FIG. 1, except that FIG. 9a shows base 115 a with holes 117 a-d for securing post 110 a to the ground and FIG. 9b shows base 115 b with screws/bolts 140 a-d through holes 117 a-d. Holes 17 a-d and bolts screws 140 a-d may be used for anchoring post 110 a to the ground, e.g., to a concrete strip 210.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of an exemplary post 110 a without a secured panel 110 a. Post 110 a in FIG. 10 includes exemplary holes 112 a-c in exemplary locations on the side of post 110 a.

In one embodiment, two panels may be secured between two posts, i.e., a front panel and a back panel, thereby creating a cavity and/or void between the two panels. This cavity may be used for several things. For example, a speaker may be placed inside the cavity. The speaker may be a waterproof speaker for outdoor applications. In another embodiment, the fence may include or be a water feature, and the cavity may be used to store parts of the water feature (e.g., pipes, pumps, etc.). 

What is claimed is:
 1. A fence panel, comprising: a front side; a back side; and an end configured for securement to a post; wherein: the end includes a turn-back bend having a post adapter; the post adapter is directly behind the back side of the fence panel. 